Sky watchers take a photo of China's space station orbiting the moon in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, on January 6, 2023.Photo:VCG

China has actively been pushing for international space cooperation with the latest example being the China-France joint statement, signed by both countries' governments amid French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to China between April 5 and 7, in which the two sides expressed satisfaction with cooperation on the Chang'e-6 probe, and on the joint research of extraterrestrial samples.

Days earlier, Venezuela said it was pleased to have been invited as the first country to join the International Research Station (ILRS), a project jointly proposed by China and Russia, and is intended for construction in the early 2030s using super heavy-lift launch vehicles.

"We welcome the invitation from the government of the People's Republic of China to participate in the ILRS project, becoming the first country invited to join this important project," read a statement published on the website of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry.

"The strategic partnership between Venezuela and China transcends all areas of cooperation," the statement said. Venezuela is looking forward to the results of the recent meeting between its Bolivarian Agency for Space Activities and China's national Deep Space Exploration Laboratory, it added.

China should expand its friend circle in space science and relevant cooperation, while taking the lead in major space science projects internationally so as to significantly increase China's influence in the exploration and use of outer space, Wang Chi, a deputy to the National People's Congress and research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), said during this year's two sessions in March.

"Under the current circumstances at home and abroad, there is an urgent need for a breakthrough in the field of space science, which requires closer collaboration and more convenient cooperation approaches," Wang noted.